


Gold Rays

by theragingstorm



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Birds of Prey (Comic)
Genre: Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Canon Disabled Character, Family Bonding, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Multi, a better universe where the whole family is happy and gets along, dinahbabs could be platonic or romantic that's up to you, summertime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-10 04:42:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11120139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theragingstorm/pseuds/theragingstorm
Summary: Summer's finally arrived, and the joy is infectious. Even the most brilliant and dedicated of hackers need a break sometimes.





	Gold Rays

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this quick little thing last month to my tumblr (that's clearbluewaters if you want to check it out) and forgot to upload it here. Oh well. Better late than never. 
> 
> Title's from the Vinyl Pinups song of the same name.

Barbara had learned long ago that the only way one got anywhere in life – particularly in a city like Gotham, particularly in a Bat _man’s_ world – was to be unable to accept being merely satisfied.

That being said, in the moment, she was willing to forget that particular life clause.

The backyard of Wayne Manor practically crackled with midsummer. The grass, for the first time all year, had gone off pristine emerald in favor of a faint yellowish chartreuse. The heavy air shimmered with heat; only the occasional lazy breeze breaking through.

Naturally, to celebrate the arrival of summer and an unusual low level of crime – well, for Gotham, anyway – Alfred had rolled the tarp off the Olympic-sized backyard pool and Bruce had dug a bottle of tequila out of the liquor cabinet.

The moisture dripped steadily off the glasses of slowly-melting margaritas, one of which was currently puddling over her hand. But tilted the back of her wheelchair back and laid out in a swimsuit and a sarong, she was hardly complaining.

Over the tops of her sunglasses, she observed the Waynes playing in the pool. Poor Tim was slathered in enough shiny sunscreen to be seen from the moon, while Damian was squirming to escape Dick’s attempts to put even a dollop of the stuff on him. Steph and Jason took turns diving cannonballs in the deep end, while Cass and Duke stood on the edge in oversized sparkly sunglasses, holding up number signs after each turn. Selina lounged half-submerged sipping the dregs of a margarita, while Bruce stood in water up to his chest chastising Damian for not putting on his sunscreen. Kate had dived under the surface a worryingly long time previously, and hadn’t come up for air yet.

Meanwhile, Alfred lay on an inflatable raft in the center of the pool with Gucci shades on, for once without a care in the world.

Even as she lay back under the sun, her headset was in place at her ear as always, connected to the rest of the Birds. In the early days of their partnership, Dinah had often complained of not being able to see Barbara when Barbara could always see her. Right then, Dinah probably wouldn’t be complaining about that.

“…So, you still back at the Clock Tower? All holed up in the dark and all that?”

“Something like that.” She stirred the ice in her margarita with a pink straw.

“Good. That makes me feel a lot better. Because I don’t know if I’ve said this yet, but I really fucking hate Siberia.”

“Oh, only once, twice, maybe a million times…”

“Shut up.” The wind screamed down the line from Dinah’s end. “Remind me again why the rest of the Justice League couldn’t take this mission?”

“Because Lois is working a case and so Clark’s on dad duty this weekend, Diana’s attending some mandatory festival to Aphrodite back on Themyscira, Bruce is at a conference, and everyone else was better at making up bullshit excuses on the fly.”

“Bruce is at a conference? That’d be a first.”

In the meantime, Bruce finally managed to make himself heard.

“Damn it, Damian, just let your brother put your sunscreen on!” he yelled, splashing vainly at the translucent turquoise water. “It’s not going to kill you!”

“Give it up Bruce,” Selina yawned, dipping a long maroon nail into her glass. She delicately scraped out the last bits of lime, licking the tips of her fingers. “That kid looks ready to commit fratricide. And honestly, I don’t blame him.”

“C'mon Dami!” Dick wheedled, ignoring his brother’s hands pushing against his cheek in an attempt to hold him off. Also definitely ignoring Damian’s murderous expression. “You don’t wanna get melanoma, do you?”

“I am from the _desert!_ Do I _look_ like I need sun protection?”

“Well, no, but neither do Duke or me, and you don’t see _us_ skimping on our sunscreen.”

“To be fair…” Duke dodged a Steph-induced tsunami. “I actually did until Babs emailed me all those articles about skin cancer likelihood. With accompanying pictures.” He waved to her from across the pool. “Hi Babs! Thanks for scarring me for life!”

She waved back.

“I feel a little sorry for Bruce, being stuck in an office when Gotham’s actually sunny for once,” Dinah mused. “But y'know…not _that_ sorry.”

Jason’s next dive took him right beside his father, dowsing Bruce from head to toe and sending ripples through the entire pool. Duke and Cass both immediately held up a ‘10’ sign.

“Yeah, the poor asshole and his family of workaholics. We just can’t get away from the grind.” She pushed her shades back up her nose and knocked back the last of her drink.

“I’ve noticed.” Dinah paused. “Y'know babe, speaking of which…you should get out of the Tower for the rest of the day. I mean, how often is Gotham sunny again?”

“Uh…between our two seasons, nighttime and foggy nighttime? Not often.”

“Exactly. So go offline, chill for a few hours. You deserve it.”

Between the delighted shrieks of the family, the sun, and the massive, inviting stretch of water, it was extremely tempting. But at the same time…

“What about you and the others?”

“Eh, I’m still connected to them. It’s not like me being in charge can fuck things up too much worse than usual, right?”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit.” Barbara paused. Over in the pool, Damian had finally (reluctantly) surrendered to his brother’s fussing and was getting slathered in white cream with all the enthusiasm of a cat getting a bath. “And for the record, I’m sorry about Siberia.”

“You’re forgiven. If only because the second I get back to the States I’m going to a day spa with a solarium and never leaving.”

Barbara laughed.

“I’ll check back in a couple hours, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever. Now go! Be free!”

“Dinah–”

“Go already!”

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Go!”

Smiling, Barbara finally hung up, setting her headset on the grass beside her wheels. She braced herself to finally approach the rest of the pool party, the scene as peaceful as the family was probably ever going to get…

Then the deep end of the pool exploded.

Kate rocketed out of the water, roaring “SURPRISE! I’M NOT DEAD, ASSHOLES!”

Jason and Steph both lost their balance and fell off the side with mediocre splashes, almost immediately followed by Duke and Cass, who then became distraught over losing their sunglasses. Damian shot out of his brother’s arms like a greased pig and crashed into Tim, knocking them both on their backs. Dick, for his part, fell backwards against Bruce, accidentally shoving his father into Selina’s lap.

Enraged, Damian swam over to his laughing aunt and splashed water in her face. He also hit Jason, who splashed back and got nearly everyone. So in no time at all half the family was trying to get Jason, except for Steph who was indiscriminately splashing everyone and Cass who was doing the exact same thing and Duke who was searching for his sunglasses in the pool drain and Damian who was having an aquatic Battle Royale with Kate and–

The entire time all that was happening, Alfred remained unscathed and un-splashed on his inflatable raft.

Well. There was no way that peace had been destined to last anyway.

With some difficulty, she rolled across the grass to the very edge of the pool. She then swept off her shades and sarong, balancing herself on the tip of her seat and–

Barbara dove into the water, the resulting wave sweeping over the struggling Waynes.

She came up grinning and spitting water, the resulting splashes to her face the opposite of a problem as she playfully battled the family, finally taking some time to relax underneath the summer sun.


End file.
